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ivan@stellysee.de
| From | garymaher@juno.com |
| Subject | Re: Belle & Sebastian? YES! |
| Date | Wed, 3 Dec 2003 20:57:56 -0500 |
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Oddly enough, I was sitting in traffic earlier today listening to the new
one and thinking about what my comments were going to be when I posted my
Best of 2003 list with it at #1. I must be a true music geek . . .
Here's a preview off the top of my head:
Dear Catastrophe Waitress is absolutely brilliant. IMHO their best since
If You're Feeling Sinister (and I really like The Boy With The Arab
Strap. Heck, I even like Fold Your Arms Child reasonably well.) But
whichever is your favorite, I think DCW is most attuned to the
preferences of the typical Audities member. Great harmonies, generally
upbeat, interesting pop stuff with less pensive slow stuff. And the
lyrics are great as always.
In fact, I'd bet Stevie Jackson has been listening to Nuggets II, because
the guitar on at least a couple of the songs sounds like it fell off of a
60s psych / garage record, complete with good old fashioned spring
reverb.
The lead track / first single (Step Into My Office, Baby) is 1968 sunny
California all over again. The title track is propelled along with a
soaring orchestral part that would have fit right in on Forever Changes.
If She Wants Me and I'm A Cuckoo are great pop songs, the latter
name-dropping and apeing Thin Lizzy at one point in the chorus. On
Asleep on a Sunbeam, they have perfected the girl/guy dual lead vocal
thing. Wrapped Up In Books is your standard B&S "bowlie geek" number but
much bouncier than usual. Roy Walker, one of the Nuggetsy tracks,
features a loping guitar part in the chorus and odd verses with
Mamas+Papas-ish harmonies and various percussion devices. And the final
track, Stay Loose, starts off like an early 80s Stiff Records track but
evolves into something out of Simon & Garfunkel, then a great dueling
guitar part. And all of this (except perhaps Stay Loose) is accomplished
within the contexts of their trademark Smiths meet Love meet Nick Drake
style (although not so much Nick this time around).
So if you gave up on them after hearing Fold Your Arms Child, or if
you've been thinking of checking them out but thought they might not be
pop enough for you, this record is the one to get.
By the way, I was fortunate to be able to catch three of their live shows
over the past few months, and they were among the best shows I've ever
seen. They really go all out, bringing a number of instruments just for
use on one or two songs, and most of them play a number of different
instruments (e.g., trumpet player plays french horn, bass and guitar;
violin player plays keys and vibes; etc.). They also use a small string
section (which came in quite handy when they decided to wing A Day In The
Life off the top of their heads based on a misheard audience request for
Staying Alive). At the two November NYC shows on consecutive nights,
they changed something like 12 songs from one night to the next, figuring
they'd have a lot of people at both shows and not wanting to disappoint
them. So if you ever get a chance to see them, GO!
g
On Wed, 03 Dec 2003 15:02:06 -0500 audities-owner@smoe.org writes:
> So what's the word on the new Belle and Sebastian record? Sorry if
this has
> been discussed already but I heard a track of theirs on the radio the
other
> day (w/ the lyric "step inside my office, baby" or something) and
really dug
> it. Was wondering how the rest of the record was, if it was all in the
vain
> of the track I'd heard?
> Hey Mark,
> The new album is called 'Dear Catastrophe Waitress'
> and the debut single is called, as you rightly guessed
> 'Step Into My Office Baby'.
>
> The album is imho absolutely great. A little more
> upbeat and chirpy than some of B&S's previous records
> and some of the lyrics are fantastically poetic.
>
> Trevor Horn does a great job on the production and the
> arrangement of string and horn sections are beautiful.
>
> I would certainly recommend to anyone who has enjoyed
> any of their previous records and for me this is their
> strongest to date.
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